Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I'm starting to like this!

I've always loved writing, and hated revising.

The very act of writing is cathartic. Creative. Revising is just, well, work. You know?

But I'm starting to realize that I don't hate revisions as much as I thought I did. Oh, don't get me wrong. I'd rather be writing and creating. But in a way, that's exactly what I'm doing now. I'm taking my book and, line by line, I'm making it better. Adding richness and texture. Weighing words and phrases. Replacing bland verbs with better ones, more active ones.

I'm having a blast!

I got through two chapters today. Not bad. And in one of them, I completely rewrote an entire scene -- a scene that I had loved dearly and had been dreading revising. But after getting it done, I re-read it and got goose bumps. It was so much better than before, and yet it retained exactly the sentiment that it had. In other words, the scene gained by revising, and didn't lose anything in the process.

I finished chapters 10 and 11 today out of 28. I'm averaging between six and nine chapters a week, so I should be done in a couple of weeks. It's my goal to finish before we leave for Mexico on Feb. 20. That way, it won't be hanging over my head when I get back, and I can start querying in earnest.

My projects

THE FINAL VICTIM. (completed). A 91,000-word psychological thriller that follows a teacher and a student in the aftermath of the worst school shooting in U.S. history. The novel will be on submission shortly.

NEW PROJECT. (Currently working) Probably a thriller and hopefully good.

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It's so simple

"There is no one template. There is no magic set of rules. There are lots of contradictions. All you have to do is find your voice and write really well. It's very simple and very hard." --Literary agent Janet Reid.

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